Leap Day wish come true

Published: February 29, 2000 12:00 AM

I have a son born on my daughter's first birthday and a daughter who was born in-between. None of them are twins, all were full-term babies and all have the same parents. How can that be?

That's the riddle the late George Shriver liked to pose to friends and acquaintances. Few could come up with the answer -- unless it happened to be Leap Year.

Son Ross Shriver was born on Leap Day, Feb. 29, 1956 on the first "real" birthday of sister Deb Shriver Smith, who was born on Leap Day, Feb. 29, 1952. Sister Deanna was born in-between.

Ross says with a grin that he doesn't remember the day of his birth, but sister Deb does. Apparently being a Leap Day baby comes with the privilege of having special birthday wishes granted.

"My birthday wish was for a brother," she said. "I remember going upstairs to pray that the new baby would be a brother. I got my wish."

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Many babies are born on Leap Day. In fact, there were a total of four born in this area in 1952 and 17 in 1956. But Millie Shriver defied the odds when she gave birth to her second Leap Day baby. The Shriver siblings were, according to United Press International, the first and only Leap Day siblings in the United States who were not twins. Deb notes that a family in Indiana added a set of siblings to the list, but as far as she knows, the list remains at just two sets.

Deb also holds the honor of being the first Leap Day baby ever born at Wooster Community Hospital, which opened in 1950.

George and Millie Shriver of Big Prairie were already the parents of four daughters (Sharon, Sandy, Deb and Deanna) when their son was born.

"Our parents moved into a five-bedroom farm house and Dad told Mom he wanted to fill it up with kids," said Ross. "Mom didn't think he was that serious!" he laughed. "Imagine if it had been an eight-bedroom house."

"There were five kids to fight with," said Deb. "When you have a big family there's always going to be some sibling rivalry, but just let someone else say something about my brother or sisters!"

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Neither of the siblings remembers a standout birthday celebration as they were growing up, but they agree that all of the children had some type of party or special day when birthday time rolled around. Their memories are from parties in later years -- Ross remembers a favorite party when he was in sixth grade and Deb a party when she was 12 ... or was she just 3?

"I was only 4 1/2 when I started work," laughs Deb. "But then, I was only 9 when I got married."

Turning to her 8-year-old daughter, Tiffany, she says emphatically, "Tiffany will be much older!"

"They won't let me play Little League," chimes in Ross, who will celebrate only his 11th birthday this year.

"Of course, if they let me play, then I suppose they wouldn't let me drive," he adds quickly.

"There are some drawbacks," adds Deb. "You can't lie about your age. If people know how to figure Leap Year, they know how old you are. Of course, sometimes I tell them I'm Ross' younger sister."

"My sons are both older than me now," adds Ross. Cody is 15 and Willy is 12 while Dad has celebrated only 11 real birthdays.

While it can be a lot of fun to figure your life in Leap Years, in reality, the Shriver siblings' lives (and birthdays) are pretty normal. As adults, they don't put a lot of emphasis on their birthdays and the two don't necessarily even celebrate together. On the "off years" Deb said they usually mark their birthdays on the Sunday closest to what would be the real date.

Growing up they sometimes got a little grief from classmates who thought sharing Leap Day birthdays would be weird, but Deb quickly adds that she prefers to say that the two are "unique -- it's much nicer than weird!"

Still, the two expect they'll be harassed a little at work today. Ross Shriver has been at the Wooster Brush Co. for 25 years and works in setup and stock service while Deb Shriver Smith has been at The Brush for nearly 30 years and is currently working at a brush finishing machine.

Mom Millie Shriver resides in the area. Son Ross is married to Diane and they live on a portion of what was "the home place" with their two sons. Deb is married to Don Smith and they live in Wooster with their daughter.